Line feeder for high pressure oil wells



Original Filed Aug. 15, 1949 I. WIN/2 1 E IN VEN TOR. Afnwm/ 4 50.4mm:

4 /r)'/ I i ff/wags United States Patent LINE FEEDER FOR HIGH PRESSUREOIL WELLS Kenneth A. Summers, Los Angeles, Calif.

Original No. 2,630,180, dated March s, 1953, Serial No.

110,285, August 15, 1949. Application for reissue November 10, 1954,Serial No. 468,177

Claims. (Cl. 166-77) My invention relates to line operating device forattachment to the casing head of oil wells under high pressure for thepurpose of lowering instruments suspended on the line into the oil wellcasing.

The invention will be hereinafter described as utilized for the purposeof lowering a casing perforating gun into a well under high pressure,but it is to be understood that this use of the fitting is given by wayof example only.

Oil Wells, by which term I intend to mean any well drilled into theground to obtain petroleum products either in liquid or gaseouscondition, are capped or closed ofi at the ground level, with a fittingincluding valves and packing to control the flow of gas or oil from thewell. If the well is under high pressure, the packing around any line orrods working in the casing has to be tightly packed to prevent the lossof high pressure fluid through the packing, thus setting up highfrictional forces which are often so high that the weight of acomparatively light instrument, such as a casing perforating gun, isinsufiicient to pull the line on which it may be suspended through thepacking.

It is an object of my invention to provide a device whereby the linesuspending an instrument in an oil well under high pressure ispositively drawn through the high pressure packing.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device for the purposeof positively drawing a line, suspending an instrument in an oil wellunder high pressure, through a high pressure packing, the device beingarranged so that the oil well pressure, although acting on the partsarranged within the device, acts equally in all directions thereon andtherefore cannot elfect the functioning of the device.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device for the purposedescribed, having power operating means incorporated therewith toconstitute a self-contained unit which may be quickly and easilypositioned on the well casing head for a casing perforating or otheroperation, and as readily removed after completion of the operation.

Oil well equipment is subjected to hard usage and sometimes unskilledhandling and a further object of my invention is to provide a simple andrugged piece of equipment which will give trouble-free service undersuch conditions.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a device for thepurpose described which is easy to operate yet accurate in performance.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from astudy of the following specification, read in connection with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing the fitting of my invention mountedon the casing cap; it will be understood that when used on an oil wellunder high pressure the cap will be furnished with a central valve sothat the gun may be lowered therethrough into the casing after thedevice has been secured in place;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation, partly in section; and

- Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail shown in cross section on the lineIll-Ill of Fig. 2.

Referringto the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates the top of a standpipemounted on the cap of the oil well casing on which the device of myinvention, generally indicated at 2, is secured, as for instance bybeing screwed into a threaded boss 3 of the top plate of the standpipe.

The device of my invention comprises a housing formed by a verticaltubular member 4 secured to a hemispherical member 5 as by welding, anda second tubular vertical member 6 parallel to member 4, member 6 beingalso secured, as by welding, to a hemispherical member 7 of the sameradius as member 5.

Hemispherical members 5 and 7 are secured together by annular marginalflanges 5a and 7a riveted or bolted together, rivets 8 being indicatedin the drawings. A pressure retaining gasket 9 is positioned betweenflanges 5a and 7a.

The plane on which the sphere, comprised of hemispheres 5 and 7, isdivided is vertical but inclined to the parallel planes in which thevertical tubular members 4 and 6 extend.

Hemispherical member 5 is provided with a hub 10 machined to provide aninterior bearing 11, and hemi spherical member 7 is provided with a hub12 drilled to provide a bearing for a shaft 13, mounted with its innerend supported in bearing 11 and extending through hub 12. The shaft 13is thus mounted with its axis accurately extending equidistant from theaxes of tubular members 4 and 6 and normal to the plane in which theylie.

A pressure retaining gland 14 is provided to close the outer end ofbearing in hub 12 against loss of pressure through the bearing.

A laterally projecting bracket 15 is welded to the spherical member andon the bracket is mounted a motor 16, which may be of any suitable type,the motor shown in Fig. 1 being of the wabble plate hydraulic type. Thepressure liquid conduit is indicated at 17 and the exhaust liquidconduit is indicated at 18.

Motor 16 drives a shaft 19 which is directly coupled to shaft 13 in anysuitable way, as for instance by a key 20 fitting in a keyway cut in theabutting ends of shafts 13 and 19 and retained therein by a sleeve 21fitting closely over the shafts. The motor is of a commerciallyavailable make affording a high torque at a low number of revolutionsper minute.

A grooved pulley 22 having a hub 23 is mounted on shaft 13 by a key 24driven into a keyway cut partly in hub 23 and partly in shaft 13. Thegroove in the periphery of the pulley is arranged to lie over theopenings of the vertical tubular members 4 and 6 into the sphericalhousing 5, 7, so that a fine line, such as cable 25, wound round thepulley will extend along the axes of the tubular members. Preferably, asclearly shown in the view of Fig. 2, the vertical tubular members 4 and6 are positioned substantially apart relative to the periphery of thepulley 22, whereby the cable 25 will reverse its direction in passingaround an arcuate portion of the pulley between the tubular members 4and 6. One end of the cable is secured to the casing perforating gun(not shown) suspended in the oil well casing. The cable 25 [is] may begiven several turns round the pulley [and the]. The other run of thecable is passed through a pressure retaining gland closing the lower endof tubular member 6 and comprising packing 26 positioned in thecounterbored end of member 6, and compressed by a follower 27 screwedonto the lower end of member 6, around the surface of the cable.

The cable is held for accurate axial movement through the tubular member6 and packing gland by a pulley 23 carried in a bracket 29 bolted to aplate 30 welded to the lower end of the tubular member 4.

The free end of cable 25 may be wound on any suitably located drum (notshown). 'Ihe pulley 28 may be utiagoae lized to record the footage ofthe cable lowered into the. well by choosing a pulley one revolution ofwhich could indicate the passage of two'feet of cable for instance, arevolution counter of any suitable type being mounted on the bracket andoperated by a projection mounted on the pulley 28 in the usual manner.

In operation, when it is decided to perforate the casing of an oil wellto increase the flow of oil into the casing, and the gas pressure in thewell is relatively high, a length of standpipe long enough to containthe gun is mounted on the casing head, which may be assumed to be of theusual kind provided with one or more lateral flow lines and closed atthe top by a plate, the casing head top plate being of course removed.

The gas pressure will not be retained in the standpipe, vertical tubularmembers, and the spherical member 5, 7, loss of pressure being preventedby the pressure packing 26 at the lower end of vertical member 6, andthrough bearing 12 by the pressure gland around shaft 13.

' The pressure within the member 5, 7, will not cause any deformationthereof because of the spherical form of the member, thus avoiding anymisalignment of interior bearing and bearing 12 and insuring that shaft13 will be free from binding in the bearings. Obviously, since thepressure is applied equally on all sides of the pulley 22, no unbalancedforce will be imposed thereon.

The motor 16 is then started by connecting the inlet pipe 17 to apressure supply, the pressure of which may, however, be quite moderate,and opening a valve controlling the fiow of the water.

Since the motor 16 is very readily controlled by the manipulation of thevalve and as water under pressure is generally available at drillinglocations, I prefer to use the hydraulic type motor shown in thedrawings, but any small motor may be incorporated in my device such asan electric motor.

The pulley 22 will be rotated by the motor in a direction to pull thecable 25, [because of the frictional grip due to the turns of the cableabout thepulley,] through the packing gland 26 and will lower the guninto the well casing to the predetermined depth, after which the chargesin the gun will be fired and the gun drawn again into the standpipe bywinding up the cable 25' on its reel.

While I have shown and described in the preferred embodiment of myinvention, I do not desire to be limited to any of the details ofconstruction shown and described herein, except as defined in theappended claims.

I claim:

1. A line operating device for use in gun casing perforating operationsand the like in wells under high pressure, the gun and the like beingsuspended on the line, including; a spherical housing formed of twoseparate parts secured together in pressure-tight relation; means formounting said housing on the casing head of a well, said means beingformed on one part of the spherical housing and being arranged to enablethe line to run into the well from within the spherical housing; a firstpressuretight bearing mounted on the same part of the spherical housingas the mounting means for said housing; a second pressure-tight bearingmounted on the other part of the spherical housing; pressure-tight meansfor guiding line through the wall of the part of the housing on whichthe second pressure-tight bearing is mounted; a rotatable shaft mountedin said bearings and extending outwardly through one of the bearings; agrooved pulley within said housing secured on said shaft for rotationtherewith, the

line being run through the pressure-tight guiding means and wound onsaid pulley a plurality of turns; and means arranged outside saidhousing for rotating the pulley shaft to pull line into the housing andlower it into the well.

2. A line operating device for use in gun casing perforating operationsand the like in wells under high pressure, the gun and the like beingsuspended on the line, including: a spherical housing formed of twoseparate parts secured together in pressure-tight relation; means formounting said housing on the casing head of a well, said means beingformed on onepart of the spherical housing and being arranged to enablethe line to run into the well from within the spherical housing; a firstpressuretight bearing mounted on the same part of the spherical housingas the mounting means for said housing; a second pressure-tight bearingmounted on the other part of the spherical housing; pressure-tight meansfor guiding line through the wall of the part of the housing on whichthe second pressure-tight bearing is mounted; a rotatable shaft mountedin said bearings and extending outwardly through one of the bearings; agrooved pulley within said housing secured on said shaft for rotationtherewith, the line being run through the pressure-tight guiding meansand wound on said pulley a plurality of turns; a bracket extendingoutwardly from the part of the housing through which the shaft extends;and a motor mounted on said bracket and efiective to rotate said shaft.

3. A line operating device for use in gun casing perforating operationsand the like in wells under high pressure, the gun and the like beingsuspended on the line, including: a spherical housing formed ofsemi-spherical parts secured together in pressure-tight relation; atubular extension of one semi-spherical part arranged to mount thehousing on the casing head of a well and placing the interior of thehousing in communication with the interior of thewell casing; a firstpressure-tight bearing mounted on the same semi-spherical part of thehousing as said tubular extension; a rotatable shaft extending throughsaid first pressure-tight bearing; a second pressure-tight bearingmounted on the other semispherical part of the housing and supportingthe end of said shaft; a second tubular extension projecting from thesame semispherical part as that onwhich the second pressuretight bearingis mounted and arranged parallel to the first tubular extension; agrooved pulley within said housing secured on said shaft for rotationtherewith and with its rim in tangential relation to said tubularextensions, the line being run through said second tubular extension andwound on said grooved pulley a plurality of times and run the tubularmounting extension into the well; a pressure-tight packing gland in saidsecond tubular extension through which the line is pulled; a bracketextending outwardly from the semispherical part through which the shaftextends; a motor mounted on said bracket and effective to rotate saidshaft; a second bracket projecting from the tubular mounting extension;and a line guiding grooved pulley mounted on said bracket, the linebeing run from a line reel around said line guiding pulley and directedthereby axially into said second tubular extension.

4. A line operating device for use in gun casing perforating' operationsand the like in wells under high pressure, including a pressure-tighthousing having a portion adapted for sealed connection with the casinghead of a well, said housing having a line ingress and egress portremote from the casing connection portion, the port, when a line ofsuitable size is extended through it, forming a pressure seal about theline, and a line withdrawing device carried by the housing and having aline engaging and pulling [portion] pulley sealed within the housing andlocated between. the casing connection portion and the line ingress andegress port, said pulley having a peripheral groove frictionallyengaging said line foran arcuate distance of at least and said linewithdrawing device including a drive member connected to the lineengaging and pulling portion and extending exteriorly of the housing inpressure sealed relationship thereto.

5. A line operating device, according to claim 4, in which said lineingress and egress port is positioned substantially 180 from said casingconnection portionrel'ative to said peripheral groove, whereby said linereverses its direction in passing from said line ingress and egress portto said casing connection portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent or the original patentUNITED STATES PATENTS Smith Nov. 23, 1920

